DEFENDING THE PEN – is all about murder . . . and romance . . . writing it! I post interviews, book reviews, and flash fiction, and occasionally it's all about me. Careful . . . you may end up the victim . . . of fun!

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Friday, January 22, 2016

SON OF A PITCH

Are you sending out query letters? Have you sent to agents
and publishers only to receive the dreaded rejection letter? I did the same for
years, and then I entered a contest. Sharon Bayliss hosted that contest and I
won – my full manuscript was requested by Curiosity Quills Press.

I'm proud to say Katie
Hamstead Teller has asked me to be part of a similar opportunity for
other writers. This time I'll be helping the entrants move to the final stage
by hosting, critiquing, and voting.

i don't care if this is from a prologue or
chapter one. That's up to you.

Week 1 starts Feb 15, 2016:

A chance to refine your query
and first 250 words. Post this on your blog then post a link in the comments of
a post I will put up on my blog the week of Feb 15. Please leave feedback on a
minimum of three other queries and first 250.

Week 2 starts Feb 22, 2016:

This week, published authors
will give you feedback. The Son of a Pitch team, who are all published, will
post your emailed in queries and 250 words on their blogs. Please use the
formatting above and email to:

sonofapitchcomp@yahoo.com.au

Incorrectly formatted emails
will be kicked off the island. The team will vote for their favorites to go
onto the final round. They will cast five votes each, anywhere they want, and
the top 20 will go onto the next round. Feel free to coax judges your direction
however you want! But please, only you and the judges can comment on your
entry, or the comments can get confusing for tallying votes at the end. Votes
will close on Thursday 11:59 p.m. MST. To stalk the hosts/voting authors,
click Here.

The first fifty
entries will go into this round. So get your clickers ready to
email at precisely 10 a.m. MST on Friday Feb 19th.

But don't be discouraged! You
will get good feedback to help you even if you don't make the top twenty. So
please go and query elsewhere afterward, and let us know your success story so
it can be shared on the blog.

Week 3 starts Feb 29, 2016:

We have a fantastic line up of
editors, publishers, and agents. They'll swing by the final contestants to try
to bribe you into subbing to them. The final Twenty will post on Katie's blog,
where agents/editors will come and make requests for you. If you make the top
twenty, you will be emailed on Friday 26th, and all updated entries
sent to the email address by Saturday 27th 11:59 p.m.

MST. If
you don't make the deadline, the next highest voted entry will be emailed, and
will have 24 hrs to get the entry into the inbox.

Feel free to email any
requests made whenever you feel like it, but note that the agents/editors are
allowed to give feedback on your entry. Also, make sure to include that your
query to them is from the comp by putting Son of a Pitch Request in
the title.

Twitter Pitch: Mar 7, 2016:

And finally, we'll have a
free-for-all twitter pitching opp under the hashtag #sonofapitch

Rules: Makes sure to include
#sonofapitch and your genre/age category with the tweet. You can tweet any
number of manuscripts, but only once every hour each.

It will open all day, but
since I'm in Arizona, I won't be monitoring the earlier stages since that's
like 5 in the morning here.

Haha! I had to laugh at the name's clever word play and the "kicked off the island" part! This is a great opportunity for those looking to publish or get an agent. Awesome that you're helping to judge. Good luck to everyone & have a great weekend! :)

Dang, this sounds like a lot of fun, and a great opportunity for lots of writers. Makes me sorry I've neglected my WIP so grievously. If I had a finished (Hell... if I had a semi-STARTED) manuscript, I'd be tempted to play with y'all. Have fun!

I tried one of these pitch contest things last year... got a lot of good advice, but it was ultimately fruitless. Maybe I'll give this a try! I really love the name 'Son of a Pitch' haha .. that's great!

Would love to hear from you, say hello and leave your blog address - I'll visit, but please take with you my undying gratitude that you stopped by for a read. Be well, be happy, and may your blog surfing bring you joy!